


Fork In The Road

by MikeJaffa



Category: New Mutants (Comics), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23686501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikeJaffa/pseuds/MikeJaffa
Summary: Spoilers for Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker and What If Magik #1, among others:  The last battle with the Sith happens in Limbo.
Relationships: Illyana Rasputin/Rahne Sinclair
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTE: How am I dealing with social distancing? Clearing out a lot of gags and moments and tying it together with yet another way to reconcile “What If Magik #1” with canon. Yes, with a Star Wars crossover.  
> DISCLAIMER: Disney owns the rights to the New Mutants, the X-Men, and the Star Wars universe. Hmmm….

There was so much light from the buildings and vehicles of Coruscant’s capital district that even though it was a clear, moonless night, S’Ym could barely make out any stars in the sky…and even then it was easy to confuse them with starships until the ships moved. But the two-foot-tall purple demon, dressed in a black vest and white shorts, didn’t mind. From his perch on top of the central spire of the Jedi temple, he took in the city and the sky, soaking it in, the differentness—if that was a word—from his home in Limbo, and the rightness of staying here.

‘The Jedi protect the Republic,’ he thought, ‘but who protects the Jedi? S’Ym protects them.’

Of course, he knew saying out loud would provoke amusement from both the knights and their charges; some of the younglings would never let him hear the end of it. But it was what was in his heart. That’s what mattered.

A lithe female figure with bronze skin and white tattoos on her face came up over the edge of the roof. “There you are, you little monster!” Ahsoka Tano snapped. “I’ve been looking all over for you. What have you done this time?”

“Miss Ahsoka?” S’Ym said, puzzled. Ahsoka had been one of his favorites ever since she had been a youngling, and she was fond of him in return. “What do you mean? S’Ym has done nothing!” 

“Well, Master Yoda is having a fit, so one of you is wrong. And I wouldn’t bet on it being Yoda. You are wanted in the council chamber at once.”

S’Y’m’s mind raced as he followed Ahsoka into the temple and through the maze of corridors towards the council chamber. Yoda? Angry? S’Ym had known Yoda since Yoda had been a young padawan, and he had never seen Yoda more than annoyed with some of S’Ym’s antics. What could be wrong now?

They stopped in front of the doors. Ahsoka ordered, “In you go.”

The doors slid open as S’Ym crept forward into the darkened room. No one was there. 

S’Ym hazarded, “Yoda? You wanted to see S’Ym?”

The lights came up and a dozen Jedi jumped up from the seats and shouted, “SURPRISE!”

S’Ym jumped and spun, confused. 

The doors opened and Ahsoka walked in, smiling. “Happy birthday!”

“But…” S’Ym stammered, “today is not S’Ym’s birthday.”

“Are you sure?” Ahsoka asked. “You keep saying time and space are wacko where you’re from, so it could be your birthday for all you know. So we’re throwing a party anyway.”

As the Jedi knights and masters—Skywalker, Kenobi, Yoda, Windu, and Yoda—came around the chairs, Younglings flooded in with a huge birthday cake that had one candle on it. 

S’Ym turned to Yoda. “Then you are not mad at S’Ym?”

Yoda smiled. “Angry I am not. Good for morale this is. So went along with Ahsoka’s plot I did.”

His anxiety relieved, S’Ym asked playfully, “You couldn’t stop her?”

“Strong with the Force am I,” Yoda said, “but not so strong that stop Ahsoka I can when made up her mind she has.”

“You’re telling S’Ym.”

Ahsoka grinned. “Blow out the candle, S’Ym!”

S’Ym took a deep breath and blew out the candle. It was met with applause. 

Ahsoka presented S’Ym a cylindrical package in colorful wrapping paper. “Happy birthday, you little monster.”

S’Ym ripped it open and discovered it contained a double-ended lightsaber. The hilt looked oversized in his small hands. “Then…S’Ym is a Jedi?”

Yoda’s ears pricked up and he grinned. “Getting ahead of yourself you are.”

Master Skywalker chuckled. “Ahsoka, you shouldn’t have.”

“I know, Master,” Ahsoka said, “but…it felt right.”

“No,” Anakin said with mounting anger, “you shouldn’t have. You indulge that bug too much.”

Ahsoka seemed to shrink from her teacher. “I’m sorry, Master.”

Skywalker’s irises turned yellow. “Not sorry enough!” He ignited his lightsaber and…

…S’Ym shook himself. He must have fallen asleep, but to have a waking dream? Demons never did that. 

The party hadn’t ended that way, of course…and S’Ym hadn’t thought about it in…years? Centuries? Time was strange in Limbo, but it was all a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. S’Ym wasn’t small and weak anymore, and he had long since outgrown his fascination with the universe beyond Limbo. He was a hulking brute, big and strong enough to kill most of the X-Men. He served at the right hand of Belasco, and was standing by the throne. Belasco had left to conduct his new apprentice, 9-year-old Illyana Rasputin, to her apartments, leaving the cat demon who had once been Kitty Pryde prancing on her hind legs with a pained look on her face…

S’Ym shook himself. “Spawn of the pit! How could S’Ym forget?” He headed for the door. “Hang in there, Cat! S’Ym knows what you need!”

8

8

Belasco pulled the blanket up to Illyana’s chin and said, “There you are, daughter. You have had a long day and must sleep.”

“I’m not your daughter,” Illyana said. 

“Of my blood, no, but you are the daughter of my soul. Don’t you feel that?”

An evil smile twisted onto Illyana’s face and she nodded.

“Very well, then. Good night, little on.”

“Good night…Belasco.”

Belasco arched an eyebrow at the use of his name instead of a title, but Illyana’s eyes had already fallen shut. Belasco left and closed the door quietly behind him.

In the corridor, Belasco encountered two servant demonesses. One of them said, “Is all well with the young lady, my lord?”

“Yes.”

Their faces remained impassive, but their eyes flicked at each other in short glances.

Belasco caught it. “What?”

“Nothing, my lord.” They hurried past him.

Belasco looked after them. It was strange…but even for a demon lord like him, Limbo was strange. He thought of calling after them, but decided it wasn’t worth his time.

On the way back to the throne room, a gang of worker demons was coming the other way. They were talking boisterously and laughing. When they saw Belasco, the laughter instantly stopped. 

“M’Lud,” the leader said as they wove around Belasco, looking straight ahead.

Belasco frowned. Two such incidents…even accounting for Limbo’s inherent strangeness, he couldn’t fathom it. He would have to ask S’Ym.

As he entered the throne room, Belasco, started to say, “S’Ym, have you noticed…any…thing…what’s that?”

Against the far wall was a six-foot-long box, about two feet high with curtains on a frame built into it. Cat’s leotard was draped over the curtain. A smaller crate about four feet on a side was next to it. 

“S’Ym?”

“That’s Cat’s litter box, Boss.”

“Litter box?”

“Boss. You made her a cat ‘in fact as well as in name.’ Cats need litter boxes.” S’Ym shook his head. “S’Ym almost forgot this time.”

“‘This time’? What do you mean by--” Belasco saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned towards it. The leotard had vanished from the litter box’s curtain frame. Then Cat gingerly stepped out. She spotted the other crate. She picked it up, dumped out its contents, put it on the floor, hopped into it, and sat down, looking rather contented. 

S’Ym chuckled and Cat smiled slightly.

“Let me guess,” Belasco said, “more--” He broke off when his eyes caught what Cat had dumped out of the crate onto the floor. “Wait—what?”

Belasco crossed to the pile, crouched down, and began to pick through them: a pile of white dresses, some yellowed with age, all the size a young girl would wear.

Belasco said, “These look like the dress I just gave Illyana. In fact, they are identical. But some of them look to be very old.”

Cat came over, sniffed the dress Belasco was holding and the others in the pile. She looked up at Belasco. “Il…” she said, in a halting speech, “…Illyaaaaana.”

“Her scent is on one of them?” Belasco asked. “Which one?”

“A-all.”

“What? That isn’t—well, in Limbo, I suppose it could be possible, but how could this happen without my--” He felt something heavy in the pile. Belasco reached in and shook out a metal tube. It looked extremely high tech. “This looks like…” Belasco aimed one end of the tube at the ceiling and pressed one of the studs on it. A humming yellow shaft of energy erupted from it, a meter long and about as wide as his thumb. “S’Ym, what is--” Belasco turned to S’Ym and the words choked in his throat. S’Ym was shaking from head to toe, his eyes wide and staring, but oblivious to everything around him.

_…’S’Ym!’ the leader of a group of younglings cries as they run up to S’Ym in the corridor. ‘Clones have blocked all the entrances and are killing everyone. We can’t find any of the knights or masters. What are we to do?’_

_The two-foot-tall demon hefts his lightsaber, which looks almost too big for his hands. ‘Hide in the council chamber,’ S’Ym says. ‘S’Ym will try to find help.’ …_

Belasco stood took a half step towards the huge hulking demon. “S’Ym?”

_…S’Ym clutches his lightsaber as he enters the council chamber. A figure in Jedi robes stands with his back to him, lightsaber drawn, standing over the bodies of…_

_…of…_

_…the…_

_…younglings…_

_…!!!..._

_…the Jedi turns and glares at the two-foot-tall demon. It is Master Anakin, but his irises have turned yellow…_

“You—you—” S’Ym stammered, “—you killed them, Master Skywalker!...” A pause, then S’Ym added, “Vader?”

“Who?” Belasco wondered.

Cat meowed.

_…S’Ym skids to a stop in the high gallery, nose-to-nose with a clone trooper’s rifle._

_The trooper says, ‘Sire! What do you want us to do with this one?’_

_A hooded figure comes from behind the clones: It is Chancellor Palpatine, but his face has been disfigured and his irises are also yellow. S’Ym can feel the evil radiating from him, as potent as from any demon lord._

_Palpatine smiles. ‘Why, it’s S’Ym!’ The smile fades. ‘Kill it, trooper!’_

S’Ym shrieked in pure, blood-curdling terror, turned, and ran out of the throne room.

_…blaster bolts hit around S’Ym as he jumps through the 100th floor window. As he falls towards the cityscapes below, he cries out the magic words. A stepping disk appears below him and he falls through it. He hits the ground hard in Limbo. The stepping disk disappears as he lies on the ground, clutching the lightsaber to him, shuddering…_

The walls shook as S’Ym kept running down the corridor, heading deeper into the bowels of the palace.


	2. Chapter 2

Belasco followed Cat down the long passage in the catacombs of the palace, the metal tube tucked in his belt. Cat was following S’Ym’s scent, but it was taking them into a part of the palace Belasco had never seen before…and hadn’t known about until now. It bothered him he didn’t know about it.

“My dear Cat, are you sure you know where you’re going?”

Cat stopped, turned, and crouched in front of him, and indignant look on her face.

“Yes, well…I am loath to admit this, but I have never been in this passage before. I didn’t even know it existed.”

Cat shrugged, half turned in the direction they had been going, and looked over her shoulder at her master.

“Yes, I suppose,” Belasco said, “we have no choice but to press on and solve this mystery. Lead on, then.”

Around a few more bends and the passage opened into a high vaulted chamber loaded with marble sarcophagi. Belasco couldn’t see how many there were and couldn’t see the far wall.

“A crypt?” Belasco wondered. “Who’s buried here?” He crossed to a sarcophagus and found the name on the side of it:

BELASCO

Shaken, Belasco stepped back. He turned to another sarcophagus…and another…and another…but they all said ‘Belasco.’

“What…” Belasco wondered. “Can they all be me?”

“Yes,” S’Ym’s voice said, “every last one.”

Belasco and Cat followed the voice and found S’Ym sitting with his back against one of the sarcophagi.

“S’Ym is a demon,” S’Ym said. “S’Ym would betray you in an instant. You know this.”

“I would expect nothing less,” Belasco said. 

“But S’Ym takes his role seriously,” S’Ym said. “And…S’Ym still cares. It breaks S’Ym’s heart every time…” He trailed off. “Is that a sign of weakness, Belasco?”

“That’s actually a more complicated question than you might think,” Belasco said. “The relationship between good and evil and love and hate—many demon mages have contemplated that. Even the elder gods don’t have an answer.”

S’Ym nodded.

When Belasco spoke, he was surprised at the gentleness in his own voice: “So, it wasn’t just the X-Men who were duplicated. It’s been me. And that means…” He trailed off.

“It’s all repeated itself,” S’Ym said, “two groups of X-Men, two Illyanas, one group of X-Men trapped here, one Illyana becomes your apprentice…all over and over. Limbo won’t you perceive it. Maybe even the elder gods don’t know this is happening. But S’Ym and the native demons know.”

“I see…and my, ah, predecessors all came to a bad end.”

“The same end, every time,” S’Ym explained. “It goes wrong in a couple of years. Illyana’s mutant power comes out.”

“Wait…at age 11? I thought it was later than that.” 

Cat nodded.

S’Ym shrugged. “Well, it comes out. She can control the stepping disks. She uses them to escape and…defy you. A lot. You drag her back to the palace and imprison her in a tower. And every night…” S’Ym shuddered. “S’Ym wouldn’t do those things to his worst enemy. 

“Anyway, she escapes again. By the time you track her down again, she’s been on Earth for about a year and has become apprentice to Doctor Stephen Strange, Earth’s sorcerer supreme. You--”

“Wait,” Belasco interrupted. “You mean it’s no longer the Ancient One? He has a successor?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a shame. I began my study of magic under him and I still respect him. I had looked forward to one last battle. But I will miss him. Which touches on what we talked about a moment ago. But as you were saying…” Belasco trailed off. 

“Yes,” S’Ym said, “as S’Ym was saying, you confront them on a tropical island. There’s a fight…and she kills you. And after Illyana and Doctor Strange have gone, S’Ym collects your body and brings it back here.” S’Ym paused, then said, “You think the elder god imprisoned you here to punish you for failing to deliver Earth to them. Maybe that’s why they did it. But sometime, S’Ym wonders if this is all to punish S’Ym, for when he was small and weak, for when he couldn’t…” S’Ym broke off. Then he stood up. “S’Ym will never be weak again. And S’Ym will never let younglings into his heart again.”

“Yes, well,” Belasco said, “for me it hasn’t happened yet. Have you ever told me this before?”

“No, but S’Ym’s feelings have told him it hasn’t made a difference.”

“Well, my feelings tell me that forewarned is forearmed. So, I’ll cast a scry to see these future events on Earth. If they haven’t been changed, maybe I will learn how to change them.”

“Or by seeing your own future make it fixed and be unable to change it.”

“A risk I am willing to take, S’Ym, if only out of a desire for self-preservation. So, a year after she returns to Earth, you say? So, a few seconds pass on Earth while she’s here, and a year from that…” Belasco muttered under his breath, then gestured. A three-meter-wide pool of water appeared in the air in front of them. The image resolved, vibrating, blurry, but they could make out a dark, snowy night. The image closed in on a building; they could read a sign in front of it:

MID-COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER  
SALEM CENTER NEW YORK

Cat said, “Home.”

Belasco turned to her. “You mean this is near the X-Men’s domicile?”

Cat nodded.

S’Ym said, “That’s not right. It was a tropical island. S’Ym knows practically every tree by now.”

Belasco turned back to the scrying pool. “Well, this is where she is…will be a year after returning to Earth,” Belasco said. He made more gestures. “Let’s see if I can find her…”

The image blurred and resolved into a large room. Illyana, dressed in Earth street clothes, with a group of teenagers. She looked to be about 14 or 15. Belasco wondered if there was something wrong with the scry, because one boy, holding the doorknob, was cloaked in shadow. 

A girl with short red hair who looked to be about Illyana’s age or younger was speaking: “How can we fight such a fearsome creature?” she said with a Scottish accent. “It’s magic!”

Illyana said, “So am I. And when you want to be, Rahne, you can be pretty fearsome yourself. We’ll give the beast a run for his money. Besides, it’s not as if we have a choice.”

“Illyana’s right,” a tall, skinny blond boy said, his voice carrying the twang of the American south. “There’s more at stake here than just Dani. This hospital’s full of helpless patients…” The image blurred and vibrated and the sound became too distorted to make out.

“It would seem Illyana has absorbed the X-Men’s ethics,” Belasco sneered, but was there pride mixed in with his distaste? He continued to gesture. “Let’s see if I can find more…”

The image resolved, showing Illyana and a dark-skinned boy standing in a corridor. They were dressed in matching yellow and black uniforms. The boy was looking through the windows of a door behind him. 

Cat said, “X…X…X-Men.”

In the scry, Illyana said, “Clear away from the door, Roberto—I’m casting the wards.”

The boy—Roberto—stepped back from the door. Illyana spread her arms and began to glow. Then light spread out from her and filled the scrying pool, which crackled, hummed and vibrated.

Belasco’s eyes widened. “Soul wards! Powerful, too, if they can interfere with the scry.” His brow furrowed and he shook with effort as he gestured. “I must see what she is fighting!”

The glowing white haze seemed to part: Illyana was in an open field. Was it day? Night? Belasco couldn’t tell. She held a flaming sword, and her left arm was coated with silver armor. Her voice was distorted and partly hidden by crackling: “…need a diversion…the demons flinched from your…they must be vulnerable to--”

The image faded as the scrying pool bubbled and shuddered. Then it exploded, spraying the three demons with water and steam.

Cat shook herself. Belasco gestured and red and black fire flashed over the demons, drying them.

Belasco said, “Well, that was…interesting. I didn’t have the impression they were fighting me.”

S’Ym closed his eyes. “Always in motion, the future. She doesn’t kill you…but that future is hanging by a thread. It may not happen.” He opened his eyes.

“S’Ym…since when could you do this?”

S’Ym grinned. “S’Ym picked up a little bit about the ways of the--” He broke off and looked away. “We have to get outside. The plains to the east.”

Belasco bristled. “S’Ym--”

“Now! Please.”

Belasco gestured and smoke enveloped them. The three demons were outside the palace.

Nothing was happening.

Belasco said, “S’Ym, what--”

A huge stepping disk appeared in the sky above them. Out of it flew and angular metal vehicle about the size of a small passenger jet. It belched smoke as it careened towards the ground…

…and then stopped, floating above ground.

Belasco turned and saw S’Ym, one arm extended, straining with the effort.

“Been a while since S’Ym tried this,” the demon grunted. “Could use some help.”

Belasco extended his hand. Two huge earthen hands rose out of the ground, grasped the ship, and lowered it to the ground. 

S’Ym opened his eyes and relaxed. “Thanks.”

“No trouble,” Belasco said sardonically.

As they approached the ship, a hatch opened and Wolverine bounded out. His uniform was torn and he had burns but he was ok. “Great,” he said, “out of the frying pan, into the--”

“This is no time to fight, Logan!” The speaker was a young man who came out behind Logan in a yellow and black uniform. Belasco recognized him as Roberto from the scry, only older, maybe in his mid-twenties. And in his arms—

Illyana. Unconscious, her blond hair mess, dressed in torn black leather with four angular horns crowning her head. She, too, looked to be in her mid-twenties.

Another figure in yellow-and-black brought up the rear. Belasco didn’t recognize the woman with long dark hair, but she was carrying the red-head—Rahne—he had seen before.

Roberto went on, “You have to help her, Belasco!”

“I do?” Belasco asked

“Yes,” Roberto said, “as part of that deal or whatever—you get Limbo and Illyana gets safe passage, plus you put her back together when she needs it.” He looked at Cat. “And I don’t like the way that cat thing is looking at me.”

Illyana stirred. “Cat?” She opened her eyes, took in Cat, Belasco, and S’Ym, and winced. “Spawn of the pit, Bobby! I messed up. I brought us back into my own past. He doesn’t knuuuuhhhh…” Her eyes fell shut.

S’Ym turned to Belasco. “You should help them, Boss.”

“Oh, should I?” Belasco asked.

“S’Ym has a feeling,” S’Ym explained.

Wolverine grinned. “Little labor relations problem, Bela?”

“Let’s just say it’s been an unusual evening,” Belasco said. “But I am not above taking advice from an underling. Very well. You are all my guests. Come on through…”


	3. Chapter 3

Rahne woke with a start. She was in a bed in a room in the Limbo palace. 

Dani came over to the bed. “Easy, sport. You’re all better now.”

“So it worked?” Rahne asked. “Belasco helped us?” She saw her clothes hanging on a privacy screen. Holding a sheet around herself, she crossed to it, got behind it, and began to get dressed. 

“Heeeyeaaaaah, about that. He’s helping all right. Not very happy about it, and it was S’Ym of all people who had to twist his arm. Seems Illyana brought us back into her own past. Again.”

Rahne froze in the middle of pulling on her top. “So…wee Illyana is here again?”

“Not so ‘wee’ from what the servants have let slip. Even though it’s been a few years, this is her first actual night in the palace. In fact, I hear she’s sound asleep. Oh, and she snores.”

Rahne came around the screen, fully dressed. 

Dani added, “So what do you want to do, carrot top? Mess with things again?”

“Aye, that’s something to--” 

There was a knock on the door, then Wolvie’s voice: “You decent?”

“Yes,” Rahne called. “Come in.”

Wolverine and Roberto entered. Wolvie crossed to the girls and said in a conspiratorial voice, “You heard, right?”

Rahne nodded.

“Ok,” Wolverine said, “soon as our Illyana is better and we can get outta here, we grab the younger version and--”

“No,” Rahne said. “We leave without making any changes to Illyana’s timeline.”

Bobby said, “I’m surprised at you, Rahne. You were all gung-ho when we came through Illyana’s past before.”

“That I was, Bobby, and there hasn’t been a day when I didn’t wonder if I did the right thing, if there wasn’t another way. As hard as it is, we’re not messing with it this time.”

Wolverine said, “You’re assuming you have a choice, kiddo.”

Rahne shifted to half wolf. “I kicked Sabretooth’s ass during the War of the Realms, Wolvie. Don’t think I won’t do the same to you. I’m not a kid anymore.”

Wolverine glared into Rahne’s eyes. Then he smiled slightly. “Well, there’s still time to…talk about.”

“Me mind’s made up.”

“Whatever.”

Rahne turned to Dani. “Where’s Illyana, Dani?”

“She was taken to what’s called the center of the palace, Rahne, or the center of Limbo—the part strongest with black magic. We were told to stay out.”

“Where is that, Dani?”

“Rahne, I made it as far as the door and it felt horrible. I don’t think you would want to--”

“Where. Is. She. Dani?”

8

8

Rahne came down the passage into the large, circular cavern under the palace. Dimly lit by torches, the place felt malevolent. A three-meter-wide sphere floated in the middle of the room, and Rahne could see Illyana in her demonic form floating in it.

Belasco stood with his back to her and barely turned his head. “I left instructions I was not to be disturbed.”

“I’m not at your beck and call,” Rahne shot back. “I won’t interfere, but I won’t leave Illyana’s side.”

Belasco grunted; a bench rose out of the ground to Rahne’s left. Rahne crossed to it and sat.

Belasco groused, “So, how did you come to be here?”

“Favor for friends in the Shi’ar empire,” Rahne explained. “Looking into who was raiding archeological sites in a neighboring galaxy. You can guess how that went. I suppose it’s true no good deed goes unpunished.” She hugged herself against the all-pervasive evil

After appearing to struggle with himself, Belasco turned to her. “You must forgive me, Rahne. I usually try to be more gracious, both with allies and foes. I’m just not used to being caught unawares in a realm I rule.”

“Because you’re usually the one catching people unawares?”

“Something like that.”

“Welcome to my world.”

Belasco chuckled. He turned to Illyana’s sphere, then back to Rahne. “If you don’t mind my asking, what’s the nature of your mutant power?”

“I’m a werewolf, and shouldn’t you be paying attention to Illyana?”

“The process is mostly automatic. The sphere creates an environment that allows Illyana to heal herself. And you are from the Scottish Highlands, correct?”

“How’d you guess?”

“There’s old magic in those parts, Rahne—old gods and elemental powers. Just enough in your time to make your having the aspect of an animal spirit not surprising.”

“I’m not going to ask which old god, because I would hate to think I made it with me own great-something-grandfather. And where are you from, originally?”

“Florence, Italy.”

“Ooh. I thought I caught a trace of an accent.”

“I was quite the lady’s man when I was human, Rahne.”

“Word to the wise, Bela—never chat up someone who’s inclined to rip your throat out with her teeth.”

“Around here, that’s--” The room shook, dust falling from the ceiling. Belasco frowned. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Never rains.” Rahne got up from the bench. “My bet is we’re needed outside.”

“Allow me.” 

Belasco gestured. Smoke enveloped them, and then they were outside by the ship. S’Ym and the other X-Men were looking up at a blazing point in the sky. Lightning shot out of it and the ground shook.

Rahne said, “What’s going on?”

“S’Ym’s bet,” S’Ym said, “someone is using a hyperdrive to create a portal…”

The spot widened into a disk, and swarm of spherical robots came through. The spheres expanded, revealing cutting tools whose edges blazed with energy. 

“Bloody hell,” Rahne groaned, “not again.”

Belasco drew his sword. “Take this, Rahne. It will be equal to their weapons.”

Rahne transformed to half wolf and accepted the sword. “What about you--”

Belasco fired a mystic bolt over Rahne’s shoulder; behind her, a robot exploded.

Belasco smiled. “I believe the expression is, ‘I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.’”

Demons and X-Men joined the battle against the robots. At one point, a robot had the drop on Rahne, but a silver sword sliced it in two. When the smoke cleared, Illyana—human in black leather and wielding her soulsword—was standing before her. 

Rahne smiled. “Dramatic entrance as always,” she said as she and Illyana cut through more robots.

“Yeah,” Illyana said, “how did you get the sword of the elder gods?”

“Bela gave it to me.”

“‘Bela’? Rahne, this wolf-in-heat crap is getting ridiculous--”

“No, seriously, he just gave it to me! I didn’t do anything.”

“Better not. I don’t know if I could handle you being my adoptive mother.”

“You’d have to obey me then, wouldn’t you? Tempting.”

At last the robots were all scrap. The X-Men lined up facing the flickering portal. S’Ym said, “It’s not over. Something else is coming through.”

Wolverine bristled. “Who died and made you--”

The portal widened again. They could see a starship interior being engulfed by flames as a chair floated through, a high-tech chair bearing a robed figure. The portal collapsed and vanished. As the chair floated to the ground, they could see the face, pale flesh mixed in with electronics. 

He said, “Strong with the Dark Side this place is…and I sense that from here one can attack all of time and space! I won’t just rule a galaxy or even several galaxies. I will rule the whole universe! I will rule in all places and all times! And you mutants will serve me or die.”

Wolverine growled, “Nuts to you, ‘Your Majesty.’”

S’Ym’s eyes widened. “No! It can’t be you. It’s been…Sheev Palpatine is long dead!”

The chair stopped its descent a meter off the ground. Palpatine smiled. “I thought I felt a familiar presence. My, S’Ym, how you’ve grown!”

Belasco crossed to stand by S’Ym. “S’Ym, do you know this…person?”

“Yes, S’Ym,” Palpatine taunted. “Have you not told your new lord and master your history? How you were the life-long companion of Master Yoda? And playmate to generations of younglings? And how when I sent Lord Vader and my clone troopers to exterminate the Jedi…” The horrid being laughed. “…you turned tail and ran?”

“It is you,” S’Ym growled. He opened his hand. His lightsaber flew from Belasco’s belt into his hand. He ignited it. This time, it fit his hand perfectly. “S’Ym isn’t running this time, you bastard!”

Sy’m charged. Palaptine fired force lightning. It met S’Ym’s sword and halted the demon’s charge.

“Who do you think you’re kidding?” Palpatine shouted. “Getting revenge for your fallen friends? One last good deed for the Jedi? Spare me! I have seen your future from the minds of the mutants, some of whom have known you since…” Palpatine’s face twisted into a cruel smile. “…since they were little older than younglings! You’re as corrupt as I am, S’Ym! You have no business fighting me.”

S’Ym heard and felt the truth in Palpatine’s words…

…but then over Palpatine’s shoulder, he saw three shimmering figures: Yoda, Master Anakin, and…

…Ahsoka…

Ahsoka smiled and nodded.

S’Ym’s eyes turned back to Palpatine. “You’re right about S’Ym, Sheev, and S’Ym will meet his destiny, whatever it is. But for now, right now…” S’Ym opened his other hand. The Sword of the Elder Gods flew from Rahne to S’Ym. “…S’Ym stands with the Light against you!”

He crossed the two blades and the force lightening reflected onto Palpatine.

Emperor Palpatine writhed in the energy storm. “Are … you … kidding me? This again!? And from--”

The chair exploded; the blast wave knocked everyone flat; even S’Ym was staggered. But the chair was reduced to a smoking ruin with no trace of Palpatine. 

Illyana was on her feet first. She aimed her sword at Belsaco. “Logan, go into the palace and get my younger self.”

Rahne came over. “’Yana--”

“No argument, Rahne. She’s going to be the girl I should have been. My mind is made up.”

“All--” Rahne looked at a point past Illyana. “Bloody hell!”

Illyana turned and looked. “What?” Seeing nothing, she turned back. “Rahne--” And that’s when Rahne’s fist connected with her jaw, knocking the witch out.

Rahne caught Illyana. She turned to Belasco. “We’re leaving now.”

Belasco said, “Leave as you came and I will send you on your way.”

8

8

Belasco, Cat, and S’Ym watched as the X-Men’s ship flew into the stepping disk. Then Belasco closed his hand and the disk disappeared. “Back to their own place and time.”

S’Ym said, “Surprised you let them go that easily, Boss.”

“Not at all, S’Ym. I learned my future is assured. That’s worth releasing some people I could catch up with later.”

“It’s not.”

“What?”

S’Ym’s eyes were shut. “Always in motion, the future. But that future is still in doubt. Nothing today guarantees it will happen.”

“What does?”

A pause, then, “The day her mutant power comes out—that day is clouded. S’Ym can’t clearly see it.” S’Ym opened his eyes. “What you do on that day determines your future.”

“You said she defies me.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t let that go unanswered.”

“No.”

“So…?” Belasco prodded.

S’Ym pondered. “Well, now that S’Ym thinks about, when the other Illyanas escaped the second time, they were pretty messed up after what you did in the tower. So, maybe, S’Ym doesn’t know, do something else. Leave her to fend for herself in the wilderness. Anything. Just don’t drag her back here.”

“Hmmm…that’s a thought. I will consider it, S’Ym. I certainly have time to think about it…”


	4. Chapter 4

Rahne sat on the edge of the cliff overlooking Krakoa’s beech on a sun-drenched day. She heard footsteps behind her and knew it was Illyana. 

Illyana stopped behind her and said, “Why? You know you could have brought my younger self back here and it would not have affected this reality.”

“But you would still be gone,” Rahne said, not turning towards Illyana, “and I couldn’t bear that thought. I do not want to lose you again. So I would rather have you—the Illyana I know and care about—in the here and now, even if you hate me.”

A pause, then Illyana came up beside Rahne and sat down next to her. “I can’t hate you, Rahne. It takes too much effort. So I’ll settled being annoyed with you for a couple of hours.”

Sensing a break in the tension, Rahne smiled. “Well, it’s the puppy dog eyes, y’see. They’re part of being a werewolf.” Rahne changed to half wolf and favored Illyana with a big-eyed sad look.

Illyana laughed. “Cut it out, Rahne!”

“Was that a laugh? Did I make you laugh?” Somehow, her eyes got bigger. 

“C’mon, Rahne, stop it!”

A man’s voice called from the tree line: “Sorry! Didn’t mean to interrupt. Don’t mind us, ladies.”

Rahne changed to human as she and Illyana laughed. Then Illyana put her arm around Rahne’s shoulders and Rahne rested her head on Illyana’s shoulder.

Illyana said, “For a pain in the ass, you’re all right.”

“Likewise….So, back in the day, did you ever know what happened?”

“Nope. Slept through the whole thing.”

“And Belasco never let on?”

“That’s a good question. No one ever said anything, and I can’t think of anything he did that might have been influenced by it. But now that I think about it, there was something that happened the next day, when I went for my first magic lesson with him, that makes sense now…”

8

8

When Illyana entered Belasco’s library, she found him descending a ladder on one of the shelves with a couple of books under his arm.

He spotted her and smiled. “Ah! Did you sleep well, daughter?”

“Yes, I did, Belasco.” Illyana spread her hands and energy crackled between them.

Belasco brought the books over to a table. “Actually, Illyana, I was thinking we would not do any spell casting today. To her credit, Storm gave you a good grounding in the basics, so I think we can look at some other subjects. To broaden your education. How do you like that?”

Illyana popped up onto a chair at the table. “Ok, I guess.”

“Such enthusiasm,” Belasco said dryly. “Ah, well. This afternoon, we will look at small unit battle tactics from the Roman Empire.”

“Small…unit?”

“Yes, the tactics a small fighting force would use. Like the X-Men. You must remember your heritage, girl, even if you do not return to it.” He gestured and one of the books opened. “But first, we will look at some of the arcane flora and fauna any mage should be aware of. We will begin with shape changers. In particular, lycanthropes.”

“Lie-can-thropes?”

Belasco grinned. “Werewolves.”

THE END


End file.
